Battle of the Gheltish Pass

In 578 I.R., the Mardhelm Empire attacked the Yemish city of Gheltia lying in the Gheltish Pass of the Donnesprig Mountains. The pass was the most direct route to access the Vertician Ocean - and trade with the Eastern Realms. After centuries of their economy suffering to increasingly greedy Yemish taxes on trade and travel through the pass, the Empire finally decided the only way to secure their destiny of controlling the Western Realms was to break through to the sea. The two powers had been at war for forty-six years, but a turning point occured with the arrival of the Order of the Burning Lance from the Eastern Realms.

The Conflict

Prelude

Nearly two hundred years into its expansion, the fledgling Mardhelm Empire found itself cut off from the Vertician Ocean in the east by the growing nation of Yem. Both powers were expanding rapidly during this time and absorbing independent settlements as they both vied to become superpowers in the region. The eastern borders of the Empire reached as far as the Donnesprig Mountains by 200 I.R., and there they faced for the first time a neighbor that matched the Empire in both power and ambition, if not size.
For nearly four hundred years the Mardhelm Empire traded with the Yemitish and their merchants paid taxes to travel through the Gheltish Pass, but the stifling burden on imperial trade with the Eastern Realms eventually became too much to bear. After securing the West by conquering Esperia in 465 I.R., the Empire turned its attention to the west. The Yemish occupation of Wirmish - with foreigners lording over people of a shared ancestral heritage as most Imperial citizens - had long been a thorn in the side of the Empire. In 532 I.R., the Empire took the city from the Yemish, and thus began eighty years of war on the eastern frontier. The turning point of the war was the Battle of the Gheltish Pass in 578 I.R., made possible by the imperials joining forces with the Order of the Burning Lance.

The Engagement

Despite the historical signifigance of the battle, there is little to be said about what occured that day. Some Imperial historians like to spin colorful tales about how the generals leading the legions of the Empire outwitted the defenders at Gheltia, but the truth of the matter is that the overwhelming numbers of the Imperial infantry might have won the day on their own. What prevented the battle in the narrow pass from becoming an all-out bloodbath however was the cavalry charge of the knights of the Order of the Burning Lance, something that had never before been seen in the Western Realms. Upon seeing these heavily armored men charging down on them, most of the Yemish garrison turned and fled from the city. It was not until after the Empire took the Pass that the real war with the Caliphate began.

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

578 I.R.

Ending Date

578 I.R.

Belligerents

Mardhelm Empire

The Caliphate of Yem

Strength

10,000 men of the Empire, plus another 5,000 mercenaries from the Order of the Burning Lance.

2,500 in garrison, 20,000 in reinforcements on the march.

Casualties

Approx. 1,000 dead.

Unknown.

Objectives

Eliminate all Yemish military presence in the Gheltish Pass and establish Imperial control over the city of Gheltia.

Hold the city of Gheltia and the Gheltish Pass.

Maps

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  The Western Realms

The Fall of Kansburg

The official histories say little about the sudden fall of Kansburg the morning after the Battle of the Gheltish Pass. After securing the Pass, the Order of the Burning Lance marched through the night to the coastal port and descend upon the city without warning in the glow of the dawn sun. The tale of that day is one fraught with looting, murder, and the burning of most of the city.